Modern Scots phonology
Consonants Most consonants are usually pronounced much as in English but: * c''': or , much as in English. * '''ch: ,Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.499 also gh. Medial 'cht' may be in Northern dialects. loch (fjord or lake), nicht (night), dochter (daughter), dreich (dreary), etc. Similar to the German "Na'ch't", "To'ch'ter". * ch: word initial or where it follows 'r' . airch (arch), mairch (march), etc. * gn: . In Northern dialects may occur.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.501 * kn: . In Northern dialects or may occur. knap (talk), knee, knowe (knoll), etc. * ng: is always .Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.510 * nch: usually .Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.500 brainch (branch), dunch (push), etc. * r': or is pronounced in all positions,Johnston, Paul (1997) ''Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.510-511 i.e. rhotically. * '''s or se: or . * t''': may be a glottal stop between vowels or word final. In Ulster dentalised pronunciations may also occur, also for 'd'. * '''th: or much as is English. In Mid Northern varieties an intervocallic may be realised .Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.506 Initial 'th' in thing, think and thank, etc. may be .Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.507 * wh: usually , older . Northern dialects also have . * wr: more often but may be in Northern dialects. wrack (wreck), wrang (wrong), write, wrocht (worked), etc. * z': or , may occur in some words as a substitute for the older < > (yogh). For example: ''brulzie (broil), gaberlunzie (a beggar) and the names Menzies, Finzean, Culzean, Mackenzie etc. (As a result of the lack of education in Scots, Mackenzie is now generally pronounced with a following the perceived realisation of the written form, as more controversially is sometimes Menzies.) Silent letters * The word final 'd' in '''nd and ld'Johnston, Paul (1997) ''Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.502-503 but often pronounced in derived forms. Sometimes simply 'n' and 'l' or 'n'' and 'l'' e.g. auld (old) and haund (hand) etc. * 't' in medial '''cht ('ch' = ) and st and before final en'Johnston, Paul (1997) ''Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.509 e.g. fochten (fought), thristle (thistle) and also the 't' in aften (often) etc. * 't' in word final '''ct and pt but often pronounced in derived forms e.g. respect and accept etc. Vowels The vowel system of Scots:Aitken A.J. ‘How to Pronounce Older Scots’ in ‘Bards and Makars’. Glasgow University Press 1977 # With the exception of North Northern dialectsSND Introduction this vowel has generally merged with vowels 2, 4 or 8. # Merges with vowels 1 and 8. in central dialects and vowel 2 in Northern dialects. Also or before and depending on dialect. # Vocalisation to may occur before . # Some mergers with vowel 5. In Scots, vowel length is usually conditioned by the Scottish Vowel Length Rule. Words which differ only slightly in pronunciation from Scottish English are generally spelled as in English. Other words may be spelt the same but differ in pronunciation, for example: aunt, swap, want and wash with , bull, full v. and pull with , bind, find and wind v., etc. with . * The unstressed vowel may be represented by any vowel letter. * a''' (vowel 17): usually , often in south west and Ulster dialects,SND:A 1 but in Northern dialects. Note final a'' (vowel 12) in ''awa (away), twa (two) and wha (who) may also be , , or depending on dialect.SND:A 2 (1) * '''au, aw (vowel 12) or in Southern, Central and Ulster dialects but in Northern dialects, with au usually occurring in medial positionsSND:A 4SND:U 2 (1) and aw in final positions. Sometimes a''' or '''a' representing L-vocalisation.SND:A 2 (2)SND W 6 The digraph aa also occurs, especially in written representations of the ( ) realisation im Northern and Insular dialects. The cluster 'auld' may also be in Ulster, e.g. aw (all), cauld (cold), braw (handsome), faw (fall), snaw (snow), etc. * ai (vowel 8) in initial and medial positionsSND:A 5 and a'(consonant)'eSND:A 3 (vowel 4). The graphemes ae (vowel 4) and ay (vowel 8) generally occur in final positions.SND:E 3 All generally . Often before . The merger of vowel 8 with 4 has resulted in the digraph ai occurring in some words with vowel 4 and a''(consonant)''e occurring in some words with vowel 8, e.g. saip (soap), hale (whole), ane (one), ance (once), bane (bone), etc. and word final brae (slope) and day etc. The digraph ae also occurs for vowel 7 in dae (do), tae (too) and shae (shoe). In Northern dialects the vowel in the cluster 'ane' is often Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p.44 and after and dark the realisation may occur.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.461 In Southern Scots and many Central and Ulster varieties ae, ane and ance may be realised , and often written yae, yin and yince in dialect writing. * ea,SND:E 3 (2) eiSND:E 3 (4) (vowel 3), has generally merged with (vowel 2) or (vowel 4 or 8) depending on dialect. may occur before . In Northern varieties the realisation may be after and and in the far north may occur in all environments.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.455 deid (dead), heid (head), meat (food), clear etc. * eeSND:E 3 (3) (vowels 2 and 11), e'(Consonant)'eSND:E 1 (2) (vowel 2). Occasionally ei and i.e. with ei generally before ch ( ), but also in a few other words, and ie generally occurring before l'' and ''v. The realisation is generally but in Northern varieties may be after and . Final vowel 11 ( ) may be in Southern dialects.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.456 e.g. ee (eye), een (eyes), speir (enquire), steek (shut), here, etc. The digraph ea also occurs in a few words such as sea and tea. * e'SND:E 1 (3) (vowel 16): . ''bed, het (heated), yett (gate), etc. * '''euSND:E 3 (5)SND:U 2 (2) (vowel 7 before and see ui): or depending on dialect. Sometimes u''(consonant)''e.SND:U 2 (4) Sometimes u'' phonetically and ''oo after Standard English also occur, e.g. beuk (book), eneuch (enough), ceuk (cook), leuk (look), teuk (took) etc. * ew (vowel 14): . In Northern dialects a root final 'ew' may be . few, new, etc. * i'SND:I (Vowel 15): , but often varies between and especially after 'w' and 'wh'.SND:U 4 (2)(ii) ( ) occurs in much of Ulster except Donegal which usually has .Gregg, Robert (1972) "The Scotch–Irish dialect boundaries in Ulster" in Martyn Wakelin ed. ''Patterns in the Folk Speech of the British Isles, London: Athlone, 109–139. E.g. big, fit (foot), wid (wood), etc. * '''i(consonant)e''', '''y(consonant)e''',SND:I 3 '''ey (vowels 1, 8a and 10): or . 'ay' is usually but in ay (yes) and aye (always). In Dundee it is noticeably . * o'SND:O (vowel 18): but often merging with vowel 5 ( ) often spelled phonetically ''oa in dialect spellings such as boax (box), coarn (corn), Goad (God)joab (job) and oan (on) etc.SND:O 3 (1) * '''oaSND:O 3 (vowel 5): . * oi, oy (vowel 9) * ow,SND:O 3 (4)(ii) owe (root final), seldom ou (vowel 13): . Before 'k' vocalisation to may occur especially in western and Ulster dialects. bowk (retch), bowe (bow), howe (hollow), knowe (knoll), cowp (overturn), yowe (ewe), etc. * ou the general literary spellingSND: U 3 (4)(i) of vowel 6. Also u'(consonant)'e in some words: the former often represented by oo, a 19th-century borrowing from Standard English.SND:O 5 (1) Root final may occur in Southern dialects. cou (cow), broun (brown), hoose (house), moose (mouse) etc. * u'SND:U 4 (2) (vowel 19): . ''but, cut, etc. * '''ui, the usual literary spellingSND:U 2 (4)(i) of vowel 7 (except before and see eu), the spelling u''(consonant)''e also occurred, especially before nasals, and oo from the spelling of Standard English cognates: in conservative dialects. In parts of Fife, Dundee and north Antrim . In Northern dialects usually but after and often spelled ee in dialect writing, and also before in some areas e.g. fuird (ford). Mid Down and Donegal dialects have . In central and north Down dialects merger with vowel 15 ( ) occurs when short and vowel 8 ( ) when long, often written ai in dialect writing, e.g. buird (board), buit (boot), cuit (ankle), fluir (floor), guid (good), schuil (school), etc. In central dialects uise v. and uiss n. (use) are and . References